Research ArticleICT Adoption Impact on Students’ Academic Performance:Evidence from Saudi Universities

Wael Sh. Basri ,1 Jehan A. Alandejani,2 and Feras M. Almadani2

1College of Business Administration, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia2Deanship of Preparatory Year and Supportive Studies, Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia

Correspondence should be addressed to Wael Sh. Basri; wbassri@hotmail.com

Received 18 March 2017; Revised 5 November 2017; Accepted 28 November 2017; Published 19 April 2018

Academic Editor: Janine M. Jurkowski

Copyright © 2018Wael Sh. Basri and Jehan A. Alandejani.,is is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in anymedium, provided the original work isproperly cited.

,is study investigates and explores the adoption of information communication technology by the universities and the impact itmakes on the university students’ academic performance. ,e study also examines the moderators’ effect of gender, GPA, andstudent majors on the relationship between ICT and academic achievement. By using a quantitative research approach anda sample size of 1000 students, data were collected about the ICTadoption in universities and the relative performance of studentsbelonging to four Saudi universities. Structure equationmodelling was chosen to determine the validity of the researchmodel.,eAnalysis of Moment Structures (AMOS), specially used for structural equation modelling and path analysis, was used as theresearch tool. ,e findings reveal that there exists a relationship between ICT adoption and academic performance in a con-servative environment. An additional finding also stated that ICT adoption resulted in the improvement of the performance offemale students more than the male. However, students’ IT major was found to be making no impact on students’ academicachievement. A discussion of findings, limitations, and suggestions for future research has been provided in the study. Finally, italso provides implications of the current study to the existing knowledge.

1. Introduction

Information and communication technology (ICT) hasbecome an important source of innovation and improve-ment of efficiency for many sectors across the globe. In theeducation sector, particularly, the application of ICT hasbecome a critical part of the learning process for universitystudents both outside and inside the classroom setting. ,egovernment and other stakeholders in the education sectorsuch as university management and researchers haveinvested millions of dollars to adopt ICT in the educationsystem during the last two decades [1]. Most universities thathave fully adopted ICT have recorded immense advance-ment in the application of ICT for the improvement oflearning methods, teaching, research, and development. It is,however, not clear what impact the ICTapplications have onthe performance and achievement of students.

ICT adoption in the current study is understood asa gradual switching over to automation of the educational

process not only in administrative activities like studentsadmission, registration, and evaluation but also developinga customized learning management system (LMS) andtransferring all the courses and the related data onto it. In thesampled universities for this study, Blackboard is the LMSthat has been adopted. ,e faculty members as well as thestudents are allowed access to the LMS along with its allservices and the specialized online learning tools. ,eadoption of LMS across Saudi Arabia has facilitated theeducational processes to a great extent.

,e students’ academic performance refers to the en-hancement of the students’ current state of knowledge andskills reflected in their GPA and also in the formulation of theirpersonality and academic growth from lower levels of study tohigher levels. ,e rationale of studying academic performancein the context of ICT adoption is to present a significantrelationship that exists between the two variables.

,is study is based on the data collected from fouruniversities of Saudi Arabia, two of which, namely, King

HindawiEducation Research InternationalVolume 2018, Article ID 1240197, 9 pageshttps://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1240197

Abdulaziz University (KAU) and Damam University (DU),had fully adopted ICT in the educational processes while theother two, namely, Northern Border University (NBU) andBaha University (BAU), are in the process of adopting theICT in their system. ,e rationale behind choosing theseuniversities, which differ in size, geographical locations,number of students, number of courses, and also in terms ofIT adoption is to frame a comprehensive research modelwith the possibility to generalize its findings.

Numerous studies have been undertaken to investigatethe relationship between ICT and students’ performance;however, these studies have not been able to establishprecisely the impact of ICTon students’ performance. ,esestudies have posed two core challenges: first, it is difficult todetermine the performance of students since the commonapproach used by many researchers accredits the curriculumresponsible for the performance achievement in terms ofgrade [2]. However, Ali et al. [3] and Rose and Kadvekar [4]criticize these studies, blaming them of adopting a narrowapproach, and suggest an alternative approach to considerthe influence of ICT on students’ attitude, competency, andskills in addition to curriculum. ,is approach, according tothe authors, has been campaigned as more extensive ap-proach capable of yielding more accurate results comparedwith the narrow approach. However, this extensive approachdemands a more comprehensive and complex strategy tofocus and observe the labor market.

,e second challenge lies in technological changes thatare rampant where it is difficult to treat their impact differentfrom their environment. ,is aspect therefore makes suchresearch attract high contention on the ground that rapidchanges in technology would render the used parametersineffective; therefore, no conclusive results can be drawnfrom such studies [2]. Furthermore, many studies conductedon this subject are based on scientific studies of comparison.,ese studies establish that adoption of ICT technology ininstitutions of learning could improve the respective in-stitution. Additionally, most of the studies have focused oncognitive results, including a few recent studies that haveencountered effective results and a positive attitude towardsICT development.

Based on the identified research gaps and the problemstatement, a need is felt to investigate the adoption of ICT inuniversity education programs and examine its impact onthe performance of the students. In this regard, the proposedresearch will carefully evaluate the manner and the extent towhich universities have adopted the use of ICT and how theadoption of ICT has consequently made an impact on theperformance of students. ,e proposed research will alsoidentify key factors that contribute to performance ofuniversity students and how these factors are influenced byinformation communication technology.

,e researcher seeks to meet the following researchobjectives in this study:

(a) To evaluate the extent to which the universities haveadopted ICT

(b) To determine the relationship between ICTadoptionand the performance of the university students

(c) To find out the impact of ICT adoption on univer-sities, in general, and on students’ performance, inparticular

2. Literature Review

,is section presents a recap of the findings from earlierstudies regarding the adoption of ICT in university edu-cation and its impact on the performance of universitystudents. ,ere have been various studies carried out toinvestigate the relationship between ICT and quality ofeducation. ,ese studies have focused on various suchfactors that have been influenced by ICT, but very fewstudies evaluate the impact of ICT adoption on the per-formance of university education. Similarly, these studiesalso give mixed findings about the impact of ICT on theuniversity students’ performance.

For instance, Ellis and Loveless [5] indicate that highereducation pedagogy can neither be isolated from academicachievement nor from the teaching process and innovation.,e study affirms that the potential role of information andcommunication technology in higher education cannot beoverlooked. Chan et al. [6], in another study, make a similarobservation and assign great significance to the criticalfunction of ICT in democratizing the university educationand meeting new and dynamic demands of graduatestudents.

In a similar study, Sari and Mahmutoglu [7] observe thatin order to bring a change in teaching methodology ina university, a paradigm shift is required that would rec-ommend adoption of student-centered approaches.,e newmethodology, according to the authors, should aim atmaking the student an active element in the learning process,rather than passive through an adequate and effectiveguidance from the tutorial team. Likewise, Iniesta-Bonilloet al. [8] find out that the use of information and com-munication technology is significant in placing students inan active position and in enhancing the effectiveness andefficiency of the tutorial support.

As a result, all relevant stakeholders involved in highereducation have made tremendous efforts to ensure adoptionof ICT in their university education system. According toa report published by the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute ofStatistics (2013), governments and university managementsglobally have heavily invested in adopting of informationtechnology in their education systems. Overall, numerousattempts, both theoretical and empirical, have been made ina bid to evaluate the impact of ICTadoption in the educationsystem [9].

,e recent research frameworks for investigating theadoption of ICT in higher education have focused only onaspects related to performance in education. Such perfor-mance indicators have been utilized in these frameworks toestablish how variables such as infrastructure and availabilityof other resources contribute to the impact. A few studieshave also taken into account the institutional culture andimplementation process at both initial and advanced levels[9]. ,e advanced levels, being national and international

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levels, have recorded a remarkable progress evidenced in theform of establishment of policies and regulations thatsupport the integration of ICT in the education system [10].,e university administrators and faculty too look for themost appropriate approaches to harness the application ofICT in improving their teaching methods culminating intoimprovement of the students’ performance. Nonetheless,tangible achievement of all such efforts that should bedemonstrated as results fuelled by the ICTor as impact of itsadoption is not easily identifiable.

Additionally, there also exist numerous and significantstudies that evaluate and track the efficiency of the ICT ap-plication and its impact on education. For instance, theSecond Information Technology in Educational Study(SITES) is a study supported by the International Associationfor the Evaluation of Education Achievement (IEA) which hasevaluated and described how ICT has successfully been ap-plied across 26 countries globally [11]. ,is study seeks toascertain how school administrations, faculty, and ICT teamsdeploy computers or ICT devices on various platforms. Al-though the study does not focus on the impact of ICTon theachievement of students, it approaches the subject understudy from the perspective of teachers and their perceptionabout the impact of ICT on students’ performance [12].Similarly, Cruz-Jesus et al. [13] analyze several studies relatedto the impact that ICT hasmade on educational institutions inEurope. ,eir findings indicate that there is a limited andincomparable evidence of impact of ICT adoption on stu-dents’ performance. Irrespectively, none of these studies havebeen able to provide substantive findings to indicate that ICTadoption has positive impact on students’ performance.Further, each study has used a unique methodology andapproach making the comparison of the results between thecountries under study more complicated.

,ere are several other research studies carried out toassess the impact of ICT in the domain of education. Ref-erences [14–17] Solar et al. [18] have argued that adoption ofICT enhances the quality of learning and improves thequality of education. ,is is consistent with the study byGallego et al. [19] who argue that, for a successful im-provement of the quality of education, a country needsimplementation of ICTpolicies and regulations that must beeffective and vigorous at all levels. Babaheidari and Svensson[20] in another study make a different conclusion that theimpact of ICT on learning outcomes is not clear. Lin et al.[21] point out that there is no evidence of any strong impactof the application of ICT in education. Likewise, Wastiauet al. [22] indicate that application of ICT in educationachievement has positive effects while Venkatesh et al. [23]find out that there exist no actual effects of ICT in educationsince all research is based on the socioeconomic backgroundof students and embedded characteristics of the school. Suchmixed results from previous studies therefore confirm thatthere is inadequate empirical evidence of the ICT impact oneducation, and also, there is an absence of well-developedand reliable theoretical studies to support the benefitsresulting from ICT implementation.

A few other scholars who have investigated the topic at anational level have used a qualitative approach to determine

the efficiency and effectiveness of the student’s performanceaccruing from the adoption of ICT. Macharia and Pelser[24], for instance, investigated the education efficiency inAfrica, while Wastiau et al. [22] conducted a similar re-search in Europe. All these studies have presented a mixedresult about the relationship between the adoption of ICTand the performance of university students. ,ey have alsocreated a research void since none of these studies hasconsidered such variables as ICT adoption in relationshipto students’ academic performance with students’ GPAor gender or their IT major as dependent or moderatingvariables. Similarly, there are studies on students’ academicperformance, but hardly any study has construed it as theimpact of the ICT adoption in the university educationsystem. ,is amounts to the research gap that this studyaims to fill up.

Based on the literature review, a research model wasprepared to exhibit the relationship between the in-dependent variable, the dependent variable, and the threemoderating variables of this study (Figure 1).

Figure 1 displays this research model where ICTadoption is the independent variable (IV) and the students’academic performance is the dependent variable (DV). ,erelationship between both IV and DV may differ for each ofthe three moderating variables (MVs), students’ GPA,gender, and students’ ITmajor.,is has become the basis forthe formulation of each hypothesis since the relationshipbetween IV and DV gets affected or moderated with thevalue of MV of the study. In this kind of relationship, theMV itself never gets affected but specifies that the re-lationship between IV and DV differs each time MV in-teracts with their relationship.

Most quantitative research studies focus on the re-lationship between an independent variable X and a de-pendent (outcome) variable Y. Statistical effects such ascorrelation coefficient, odds ratio, and regression coefficientare also calculated on the effects between X and Y. However,in the current study, there are three moderating variablestoo, namely, students’ GPA, gender, and students’ ITmajor,besides X and Y. ,erefore, the number of possible relationsamong the variables have increased substantially as shown inthe below hypotheses.

3. Hypotheses of the Study

Based on the research model (Figure 1), the hypotheses arestated as follows:

(1) ICTadoption in the sampled universities has yieldednot only administrative benefits but also resulted inenhancing the students’ academic performance.With the introduction of Blackboard, the onlinelearning management system (LMS), the faculty, andthe students have come closer in their interactions.,e study of courses, evaluation, and overall learninghas been much better than previous years. Hence,hypothesis 1 (H1) frames as follows:

H1: $e ICT adoption has a significant relationshipwith student’s academic performance.

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(2) With the introduction of Blackboard, the onlinelearning management system, the faculty are able todevelop teaching tools, online exercises, and evenmidterm exams in a few cases.,is has resulted in anincrease in students’ GPA. ,e university too rec-ognized this increase and accelerated their ICTservices by increasing benefits and adding newfeatures such as uploading class seminars, audios,and videos.,us, students have an access to a greateramount of ICTmaterial. ,is has also resulted in theincrease of the ICT usage on average basis. Hence,hypothesis 2 (H2) runs as follows:

H2: Student GPA has a positive influence on therelationship between ICT adoption and studentacademic performance.

(3) A conservative environment prevails in all univer-sities across Saudi Arabia which puts restriction onboys and girls to study together, without exception.Besides, girl students also have a restriction to attendsome of the seminars, workshops, and other such in-house academic activities. However, in terms of ICTusage, there is no such restrictions. Hence, it hasbeen noticed that girls depend upon the ICTservicesmore than the boys. ,e number of usage of ICTandaccess to the LMS is higher among the girl studentsthan the boys. ,is necessitated the increase inservices and processes equally for the girls during theICT adoption processes. Hence hypothesis 3 (H3)runs as follows:

H3: Students’ gender significantly affects the re-lationship between ICT adoption and students’academic performance.

(4) A lot of students in universities study IT as a majorand have an access to the latest software andhardware equipment, resources, and technologicalgadgets. Many of these students will also choose ITastheir career option. Hence, a major responsibility ofthe university is to provide a full support to these ITaspirants in realizing their career dreams as well asproving them opportunities to acquire complete ITawareness and skills. ,e university therefore has tomake an extra effort in the application of ICT in the

education system. Hence, hypothesis 4 (H4) runs asfollows:

H4: Student major affects the relation between ICTadoption and student academic performance.

4. Methodology

,e methodology for this study was prepared according tothe procedures recommended by Basri and Suliman [25],who suggested quantitative techniques and tools such asquestionnaires for data collection. Data collection throughquestionnaire enables an objective analysis of the hypothesesunder study. ,e researcher can conveniently enter thestatistical findings of the closed ended questionnaire ina data analysis software in order to quantify the results.Another rationale for adopting quantitative measures for anempirical study like the current one is that the mandatoryuse of the quantitative tools or software in the form ofcolumns and tables would usefully supplement and extendthe research analysis [26]. Also, the analysis based on sta-tistical data is both validated and reliable since there is nopersonal bias and is the evidence of an objective researchanalysis.

4.1. Sampling and Population. ,e study engaged re-spondents from four universities, two of which, namely,King Abdulaziz University (KAU) and Damam University(DU), had fully adopted ICT in the educational processeswhile the other two, namely, Northern Border University(NBU) and Baha University (BAU), were in the process ofadopting the ICT in their system. ,e study encompassesa sample size of 1000 respondents, 250 students from eachuniversity. ,e students were grouped into two categories ofmale and female for the ease of data analysis. ,e purposivesampling technique assisted in getting a personal bias-freedata because the respondents were interested to participatein the study. Difficulties arose in an attempt to administerthe questionnaires as well as hold faculty interviews as bothdata collection methods were time-consuming, and theuniversities were also geographically apart at long distances.

4.2. Data Collection Tools and Instruments. ,is study hasmade use of a close-ended questionnaire in order to collect

Students’ academicperformance (DV)

ICTadoption (IV)

StudentsGPA(MV)

Gender(MV)

StudentIT major

(MV)

H2

H3 H4

H1

Figure 1: ,e research model.

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data from selected university students who had access to ICTapplications. ,e content validity of the items of thequestionnaire was conducted by two subject experts. ,edata from the teachers were collected thorough an interviewwith open and closed ended questions conducted on-site.

4.3. Data Analysis. After the completion of data collection,the researcher analyzed the data to check whether there wereidentifiable errors, inconsistencies, and incompleteness.Structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was used tomeasure the extent of university adoption of ICT and theimpact that this adoption had on the academic performanceof students. ,e software application AMOS-SPSS was usedto establish the significant variations in the moderatingvariables that influenced students’ academic performance ineach category of respondents [27]. SEM provides a verygeneral as well as convenient framework for statisticalanalysis that includes several traditional multivariate pro-cedures such as regression analysis, factor analysis, pathanalysis, discriminant analysis, and canonical correlation[28], as a special case.

SEM was developed as a result of the limitations in theordinary least squares, particularly when dealing with latentconstructs [27]. SEM follows a confirmatory hypothesistesting approach to multivariate analysis of a structuraltheory, which specifies causal relations among multiplevariables [28, 29]. ,e measurement model in SEM isevaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA),a special form of factor analysis, most commonly used insocial research which allows an indicator to load on multiplefactors if the indicator is believed to measure several latentconstructs [29]. In addition, it allows residuals or errors tocorrelate if the indicators are believed to measure a differentconstruct other than the latent constructs included in themodel.

Analysis of Moments Structures (AMOS) is also one ofthe latest software developed for SEM employed to analyzethe research data. AMOS Basic allows users to specifymodels from equation statements [29]. AMOS Graphic al-lows users to specify models by diagram drawing. It is usedto model as well as to analyze the interrelationships amonglatent constructs effectively, efficiently, and accurately.According to Awang [27], an important advantage of AMOSGraphic lies in its ability to compute simultaneously themultiple equations of interrelationships in a model. ,us,AMOS allows users to create path diagrams using eitherdrawing tools or by writing equations or typing commands.

Out of the 1000 questionnaires distributed, over 80percent returned. Out of the total questionnaires receivedback, only 629 students have completed them correctly. ,erest are discarded and excluded from the analysis. Amongthe respondents, there are 389 girls (61%) and 240 boys(39%). A majority (34%) of respondents belong to socialscience major. Sixty percent of the respondents have GPAbetween 3.0 and 4.0 on a 5-point scale. Over half of the totalrespondents are in their third year of study of the 4-yearprogram. Approximately two-thirds of the respondents havesome experience with technology, and they use computer

application more than two hours a day. Fifty percent of theserespondents maintain accounts on social media platform.Table 1 presents a few details about the sample respondentswho finally participated in the research.

Table 2 presents Cronbach’s alpha α reliability indicatorsas 0.80, which describes the model as well fitted, with goodinternal consistency ,e mean score of the respondents isreasonably high with the value of 2.82 (Std.� 0.84). ,isimplies that the ICT adoption affects the students’ academicperformance. ,e significance of reliability is satisfactoryand cannot be modified further (Table 2). A few statementshave been exemplified to depict the kind of data extractedfrom the respondents. ,e statements show the personal aswell as school’s engagement and the penetration of ICTactivities in student’s routine as well as with peers.

,e study has used incremental model fit indices in orderto measure the increase in fit relative to a baseline model,which is a model in which all observed variables are notcorrelated. ,ey include normed fit index (NFI), relativenoncentrality index (RNI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), andcomparative fit index. Values≥ 0.90 are required to accepta model, whereas values≥ 0.95 are indicative of good fit[28, 29]. On the other hand, absolute fit indices includegoodness-of-fit index (GFI) and adjusted GFI (AGFI),standardized root mean square residual (SRMR), and theroot mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) [28–30].A good model-data fit is demonstrated by high values of GFIand AGFI together with low values of SRMR and RMSEA.According to Hu and Bentler [30], RNI (OR CFI)≥ 0.95,SRMR≤ 0.08, and RMSEA≤ 0.06 are indicative of goodmodel-data fit. SRMR and RMSEA are used to assess howwell a model approximates the true model. Table 3 presentsthe acceptable values of this model, evidence of a perfect fitof the research model.

,e result of hypotheses testing the relationships amongthe variables and the mediators involved are summarized inFigures 2 and 3 and Table 4. ,e figures show that out of thewhole model relationship, three hypotheses were supported.In this study, it is the linear direction where the depiction of

Table 1: Sample description.

Total KAU DU NBU BAU Girls Boys629 200 124 210 95 389 240100% 32% 20% 33% 15% 61% 39%

Table 2: Descriptive statistics for the independent variable ICTadoption (the model Cronbach’s alpha 0.780).

Statements Mean Std.Dev.

I should use ICT services throughmy computer. 2.63 0.85

My school supports ICT in my university. 2.33 0.58It is easy for me to observe others(peers) using ICT in my university. 3.52 1.10

Average score 2.82 0.84

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all variables, IV, DV, and MVs, are entirely linear (Figures 2and 3). In such situations where interrelationships betweenvariables is ascertained and if all variables are found to belinear, that is, moving in the same direction, it is recom-mended that the model must be permanently established asa default model. If a single nonlinearity is detected and if themodel experiences any nonlinear or reverse movement ofvariables, the effectiveness of the Assume Model will cease.Figure 2 presents a linear influence of the independentvariable up to the dependent variable of the model withoutany discrepancy created by any moderator. Similarly, whenmoderators are a part of the analysis, the linear influencepasses through the moderators (Figure 3). Both figurespresent the standardized regression weight (0.57) as cal-culated in the interrelationship of the variables which issignificant of the relationship between the IV and the DV.

Table 4 shows that first three hypotheses, H1, H2, and H3,having the regression weight more than 0.5 are supported

while the fourth hypothesis, H4, is not supported. Table 4findings also present a good relationship between ICTadoption and students’ academic performance, which isconsistent with the study reported earlier of Iniesta-Bonilloet al. [8]. ,e findings are also in congruence with those ofother similar studies [14, 16, 17] that too claim that theadoption of ICT improves the quality of learning outcomes.

Each of the hypotheses of this study has thus been testedand found supported except the fourth hypothesis. ,eoverall involvement and the overwhelming response to ICTadoption making an impact on the academic performance isevident enough to construe hypothesis 1. Secondly, in spiteof the conservative environment as stated in the hypothesisstatement above, the findings suggest that ICT adoption ismore likely to improve the academic performance of girlstudents more than boys. ,irdly, a major finding of thisstudy is that GPA has a very strong effect on the relationshipbetween ICTadoption and students’ academic performance.

Table 3: Model fit acceptable values.

NFI RNI GFI TLI SRMR RMSEA0.96 0.90 0.95 0.93 0.05 0.03Acceptable Good Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable Acceptable

ICTadoption

Students’ academicperformance

GPA Gende IT-major

0.57H1

Figure 2: ,e relationship between IV and DV without the moderators.

Students’ academicperformance

ICTadoption

0.78 Girls0.54 Boys

GPA0.93

IT-major0.34

H2

H3

H4

Figure 3: Moderators’ effect on the relationship between IV and DV.

Table 4: Regression weight and hypothesis test.

,e relation Moderator Regression weight HypothesisICT adoption Students’ academic performance All 0.57 SupportedICT adoption Students’ academic performance Gender 0.78 SupportedICT adoption Students’ academic performance GPA 0.93 SupportedICT adoption Students’ academic performance IT major 0.34 Not supported1 is the max value same direction; −1 is the max value in the opposite direction; 0.5 to −0.5 not supported; 0.57, 0.78 and 0.93 high association; 0.34 noassociation.

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When applied to real situations, and as stated in the hy-pothesis statement, this particular finding suggests a gradualincrease of GPA due to the adoption of ICT in teachingand learning. ,e use of Blackboard, the online learningmanagement system, has further facilitated the teachers aswell as students. ,e university is aware of this increase andtherefore gradually excels in their ICTservices in the form ofadditional and better services and features. Surprisingly, thisresearch did not detect any evidence of student major-ITmaking any effect on the relationship between ICTadoptionand students’ academic performance.

Further statistical tests reveal that over fifty percent ofrespondents consider ICT applications very useful, whilevery few participants (4%) indicated that they use ICT ap-plication all the time to do their homework. In addition,under two-thirds of the participants (64%) admitted thatthey use smart phone and at least one social media platformto consume their time; about fifteen percent of this numberalso indicated that they take the help of the social mediaplatform to complete their homework. ,ese findings can beattributed to the conservative culture where common manlacks recreation and entertainment centers like theatres, andsocial media only remains a platform to recreate and con-sume time. ,e findings of this research also contribute tothe existing knowledge of the process of ICT adoption inuniversities and its impact on students’ academic perfor-mance. ,e research has also shed light on the relationshipbetween the use of ICT and learning outcomes.

5. Recommendation and Conclusion

,e findings of this study shall prove useful to the universityadministration and other parties involved in framing ICTpolicies for higher education. ,is study can be used asa reference point to understand that students wishing toenroll for a course in a university finalizes his or her decisionbased on the level of ICT application present in that uni-versity. Last but not least, this study will also act as a jump-start for other researchers who may like to conduct furtherresearch on this topic in future.

Information communication technology (ICT) is amongthe latest innovations that has revolutionized various op-erations in the world [31]. It is particularly important in thefield of education since it has recently created such platformsand opportunities that have facilitated to some extent theacquisition of knowledge. ,is phenomenon has beenhighlighted in this study which indicates how students viewICTas a component of their study program. From the resultsof the questionnaire, it has been evident that a majority ofthe respondents value ICT, and each of them feels that theyshould have the gadgets to be able to adopt ICTmore closely.

,e study also mentions that a large number of studentslack IT gadgets like smart phones and laptops. ,e reason isboth the cost of gadgets and the internet accessibility. ,epublic servers, besides the high cost, are very slow in speedwhich makes it difficult to utilize ICTplatforms on a regularbasis. Truly speaking, gadgets such as smart phones andlaptops are critical in the access of ICT facilities and searchinformation on the internet.,e study also reveals that more

than fifty percent of the students keep accounts on socialmedia. ,is indicates that ICT performs a role more thanacademic for most university students. Besides searchingfor information from the internet, these university studentsmake use of ICT for communication and social connectionswith friends and relatives. ,is explains why it is a majorbooster to academic performance of the students in theuniversity. Often the same students can use ICT to facilitatediscussions and feedback on academic matters fromteachers, seniors, and colleagues. ,is kind of interaction isnecessary to improve their study and research skills.

Another revelation of this study was that students whoscore higher grades in GPA are more interested in ICT thantheir colleagues who score lower grades. ,is is likely be-cause ICT demands some basic knowledge for anyone toembrace it. Brighter students are therefore more likely toembrace ICT. Furthermore, ICT requires concentration ofthe participants, and this makes people to remain brighter toembrace the technology. It was also revealed in this studythat social science students readily adopt ICT more thantheir other counterparts. ,is is because most of theircourses involve social networking, and ICT becomes a majorfactor in regulating the social interactions. It is necessary toconsider the fact that social sciences bring people together,and ICT too, through social networking, brings peoplecloser and breaks the geographical barriers that hindercommunication.

An interesting finding of this study states that there hasbeen an increased use of ICT particularly to search for in-formation related to studies. Adoption of ICT therefore isvery high among the university students as majority (morethan two-thirds) use ICT at least for two hours in a day.Hence, there is need to offer full support to students’ accessof ICT as it has the potential to improve their academicperformance. At the same time, this has also been observedin this study that a majority of the students who use the ICTfor academic purposes are also involved in the use of socialmedia which consumes a lot of their time. ,is is consistentwith the findings of Sanchez et al. [17]. Care should be takenby these students to create a balance between constructiveuse of ICT and ordinary social networking [17]. From thestudy, there is also a strong indication that, in terms ofgender, females have adopted ICT more than their malecounterparts. ,e study thus hints that female students arecapable of making quicker communication using their smartphones as compared to male students. ,is concludes thatsocial networking or the social networks are frequented byfemales more than males. ICT has also made it possible forfemale students to participate in activities that they were notable to do on other platforms or occasions due to the re-strictions for the females in Saudi society.

,e adoption of ICT by students who have opted IT astheir major are not supported in this study. ,is is probablybecause all the students who take ITas a major are always incontact with ICT or working in ICT environment. ,eytherefore view ICT not as a technology but as a course. Inpractice, it is known that those who take ITas a major are inconstant contact with technology. ,ey use it on daily basis;however, a fewmay face the challenges due to the complexity

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of the subject when they look at it from the academicperspective. However, non-IT counterparts use ICTmore toconnect with their friends, relatives, and instructors usingsocial networks. Hence, it can be inferred with this findingthat a course opted by a university student may not de-termine the adoption of the technology by them for aca-demic purposes alone. It is recommended that a studyshould be conducted to examine the perception and be-havior of such students who are not taking ICT as a course.,ough they may not have opted for IT as a major, they useICT to conduct their research to prepare their graduationprojects or solve the home assignments. It is also recom-mended that all students may be told about the real valueand utility of ICT. ,is is because, in many institutions ofhigher learning, the use of ICT such as internet searchengines has replaced library. ,e students who fail to getinformation from the library get it from internet research.

,is study also recommends considering the perceptionof instructors at the universities. Questionnaires must beadministered on lecturers and other administrative officersto showcase the usefulness of ICT in university education.For the lecturers who contribute to the academic well-beingof students, ICT can play a critical role in aiding the processof preparing classroom instructions.

Last but not least, in order to appreciate the role of ICTinuniversity education, it is necessary to involve all its func-tionaries in ICT. ,is study therefore recommends that allthe parties should be involved in a study sequel and un-derstand the components of ICT that are relevant to theirrespective functional unit or department. ,e current studywas limited in time and geographical and physical envi-ronment, therefore it could not study other variables likeuse of ICT in building a career for students, role of ICTin campus–industry connect programs, and field training.Further work is therefore required to investigate all theseareas.

Conflicts of Interest

,e authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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